Will You Sell Your Home in 2015?

If you’ve been thinking about selling your house, the magic 8-ball may give you the go-ahead in 2015. At the very least, Kiplinger’s thinks this will be a good year in which to sell. Income and employment are on the rise, naturally driving up demand for housing. (See “Kiplinger’s Economic Outlooks.”) Interest rates shouldn’t rise too much, either, making mortgage loans accessible to a wide pool of buyers.

But you’ll want to act quickly. The spring season is usually the most advantageous for selling — flowers are blooming, families with children want to move in summertime so as not to disrupt the school year, and one “For Sale” sign just seems to lead to another.

So, it’s February already. How soon can you get a home on the market? Here’s how Carol Neil, a Berkeley-based broker with over 30 years of experience, explains it within Nolo’s latest book (fresh out in its first edition!), Selling Your House:

Two months is an ideal amount of prep time once you get an agent involved. Some houses don’t need that much time, and a good agent can whip things into gear in a matter of days — but I’ve also worked with sellers for over a year to get the place ready. The houses that tend to need the most prep are the ones that the seller has lived in for the longest time. They’ve lived with the problems and don’t see them.

Of course, there’s lots you can do even before getting an agent involved, as the book also discusses. There’s no time for decluttering like the present!